Did you feel contempt for Non Witnesses

by Steel 30 Replies latest watchtower bible

  • Mr.Finkelstein
    Mr.Finkelstein

    Contempt for non JWS varies and it is mentally reinforced by the doctrinal teaching that non jws are evil unrighteous people separate from themselves, who are therefore deemed dangerous toward their own self identifying spirituality.

    ie. bad associations = non members

    good associations = other jws members in good standing

    Thats why associations and friendships with non members are not recommended and discouraged.

    This even extends to family members who were once associated with the organization, these relationships are intentionally broken off completely as its been documented.

  • StephaneLaliberte
    StephaneLaliberte

    Yes I did. This was one of the most liberating things I experienced when I stopped being a JW. I realized that I was judging people on their beliefs rather than their actions.

    For instance, I used to judge my catholic grandmother who believed in the trinity. I felt that she didn't try to know God enough and worried she'd be destroyed. When I left, I realized that it God would have to be downright evil to destroy her simply for getting his name wrong.

    Same thing with the holidays. What’s actually wrong with the holidays? Do they result in violence, abuse, and other crimes? Of course not!

    This allowed me to open up to a whole lot more people around me and realize that there are a whole lot more good decent people out there. Even more shocking, my judgmental attitude as a JWs actually made me a bad person myself!

  • apostatethunder
    apostatethunder

    The terms worldly people, worldly friends, worldly attitudes... were widely used in all congregations I've been. There was even worldly nail polish and worldly hair cuts.

  • Anna Marina
    Anna Marina

    Yes they did call people worldly then they discouraged use of the term and came up with overlapping generations - about the same time - kind of.

  • Overrated
    Overrated

    When we stop being a WT judgemental drone we see the world and people differently. And it is true freedom!

  • VIII
    VIII

    I never felt I was better than the Worldly family or friends. I envied them their freedom and ability to do what they wanted when they wanted. And, like a couple of posters above, I hated being a JW and wanted out so bad...I could see the hypocrisy and phoniness in them and realized that the worst Worldly friend I had was better than the best JW-who shunned me immediately when I drifted off.

    As for family-our immediate family was JWs. Then some aunts and uncles joined. Some grandparents didn't. They were ignored and we never got to know them. Same with the other aunts and uncles who didn't. At the same time, my great-grandfather on one side was in and his wife wasn't so she was shunned. Hard. Really hard to look back on that and remember Grandma Isabell just sitting by herself at every family gathering and no one would talk to her. No one. And these were fine, loving Christian JW.

  • slimboyfat
    slimboyfat

    Yes it’s a bit funny isn’t it. Taught to be suspicious of the motives of non-JWs when you’re in the religion, and becoming distrustful of JWs and their motives when your leave; if you’re not careful you can end up having holding everyone in contempt.

  • Overrated
    Overrated

    I have the most contempt for the over the top super self righteous JW who thinks their sh#t does not stink. The ones that are in that are humble I feel sorry for. I'm there for them when they wake up from their WT coma.

  • waton
    waton

    Never, even putting in 150 true hours as a special pioneer, i thought of householders holding the door open, or shut, as fellow humans with the same problems, the threat of war, and how to cope with religious ideas, even the wt spiel i was peddling.

    Glad that I see now how indefensible that dogma is.

  • WTWizard
    WTWizard

    It is part of the program. You feel that people do not deserve to live unless they believe in this particular religion--most other religions feel this way, to some degree. (Don't believe it? During the First Dark Ages, either you were a cat lick or you got tortured.) You are taught that your job is to get others into your cancer of a religion, and if they refuse, they are dog s***. And, if you are going to give this religion a fair try, you are probably going to pick up on this.

    Unfortunately for them, that did not last with me. I felt that regular people were simply humans. Humans that did bad things, but humans nonetheless (I, like just about everyone else, have done stupid things too). And in due time, I saw that the jokehovians are just as likely to do bad things--giving worthless and harmful advice, double standards, altering the meanings of words to throttle discussion, being just as greedy with money as regular churches even though their exact methods differed, and just plain hypocrisy. I have also seen too many stupid arguments where they argued about a specific doctrine--when they tried involving me, I simply told them to do their own research because I could be just as wrong as them.

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